tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13646268042794117972018-03-02T08:43:46.044-08:00Outdoor AdventuresGeocaching and Hiking AdventuresCrystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-65411052492839628912010-01-30T07:15:00.000-08:002010-01-30T07:35:30.714-08:00Scavenger Dash 2010Scavenger Dash Tampa 2010<br />At the Scavenger Dash you are given a set of 12 clues. You solve the clues and then begin to trek around the city to take photos with the objects to prove you went there. The clues below are in the order that we visited them throughout the city. You only need to get 11 and get back first to win, but we wanted to get all 12 - and we did! Only 3 teams out of the 26 got all twelve that day. Jake & I got them, and my parents went with us and did all 12 as well.<br /><br />PHOTOS TO COME LATER - They are taking too long to upload.<br /><br />SD Clue # 8 - Before donning the pinstripes to begin a now-lifted curse, this phenom hit a dinger of monumental proportions. Picture of both in front of the marker commemorating it.<br />Answer: Babe Ruth Plaque at University of Tampa.<br /><br />SD Clue # 1 - Build by General Jesse Carter this building has served many purposes over the years and is the city's oldest surviving structure.<br />Answer: Old School House at University of Tampa.<br /><br />SD Clue # 4 - You're upwardly mobile today. Pic of both in an elevator.<br /><br />SD Clue #3 - Near Heroe's Plaza, don't wrestle the gator. Rather let's see your team as a two headed turtle.<br />Answer: Cotanchobee Fort Brooke Park<br /><br />SD Clue # 5 - Just outside the no bone zone, picture yourself beneath the giant biostris.<br />Answer: Manta Ray at Florida Aquarium<br /><br />SD Clue #9 - Word Scramble: etincannel occkl epke.<br />Answer: Centennial clock keep at Tampa Union Station<br /><br />SD Clue #12 - Find the spot where Joseph B Lancaster can be found hanging out with pirates, soldiers and other mayors. Take a picture with the marker bearing his name.<br />Answer: Oaklawn Cemetery<br /><br />SD Clue #6 - Paulina Pedroso lived here and Cuban soil has been brought here. Picture of one of you in front of the gate.<br />Answer: Casa de Pedroso in Ybor City<br /><br />SD Clue #2 - Somewhere on 7th avenue between 17th & 19th street - Pic of one person with Hexagon that reads "Wayne Prinkey Happy 40th Bday... Or you could get a pic of both with a cigar roller at work.<br /><br />For clues that didn't require a picture we had:<br /><br />#11 - Curtis Hixon park, where we received an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper and had to cut it into a piece big enough to climb through without any broken ends. That took us a while LOL.<br /><br />#7 Victor, Felipe, Randy, Glenn, David, & Alex know where it's fun to stay. Answer: YMCA. When we found it we had to sing the YMCA song and do the arm movements.<br /><br />#10 John Montague invented it, "your mom wants you to eat at" the place that perfected it. Answer: Jimmy John's – had to bring back a napkin from there.<br /><br />12:00PM – 3:30PM. Did 7 miles on foot and some trolley riding. SUPERFUN!!!Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-80192521572689244012009-09-27T07:23:00.000-07:002009-09-27T07:27:08.656-07:00Tiny short geocache tripI printed out a few cache's the other day and Jake and I went looking for them at a park. Wouldn't you know that I forgot to print out the information for one of them, yet that was the only one we found! LOL. I think our geosense is better than a google printed map or even a gps! It was really cool. There was this big tree that just looked like the perfect place for a cache. As we were circling it Jake cries out "I see it!". Inside the hollow at the base of the tree someone had screwed in an outdoor electric socket - the ones with the door covers. Opening it up there was the log book inside. Cool!<br />After that we went along with our printed maps and hints but the mosquitoes were terrible! We decided some cache's weren't worth getting all bit up. But at least we found one - and a fun one at that!Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-39855951530122972572009-08-28T06:18:00.000-07:002009-08-28T06:19:57.057-07:00Slowing DownAlas, our adventures are slowing down a bit. School started this week and it will take us a while to get into the swing of our new schedule. However, after we've got that down I'm hoping to incorporate more adventures into the mix! :)<br />What will the next one be...????Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-3042407817592711652009-08-21T08:55:00.000-07:002009-08-21T09:18:34.612-07:00FL Botanical Gardens & Heritage Village<div><div><div><div>Our park adventure this week was over in Largo at the Florida Botanical Gardens and Heritage Villlage. We chose this one because we were looking for something that was just a nice walk, not really a hike. And it had this cool historical village on site. </div><br /><div><div><div></div><div>We did get lost on the way. I have no idea how! I was following the directions. Next thing I knew we were totally lost. We had to call Ted and ask him to get us back on track LOL.<br /></div><br /><div>We decided to start on the garden side, work our way through the art complex and do the village last. Jake said he wanted to save that for last because it sounded more interesting and fun. Best for last! It was a hot day too. When we went to the car to drive over to the village (because BOTH paths were closed - we walked an extra couple of miles to find that out!) it read 107!!</div><br />The bees were busy today....<br /><div><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/So7Falfh40I/AAAAAAAAAZI/L07LTGk19tw/s1600-h/FLBotanicalHeritageVillage+002.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372448466031207234" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/So7Falfh40I/AAAAAAAAAZI/L07LTGk19tw/s320/FLBotanicalHeritageVillage+002.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/So7HoCcXidI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/MOYW4Txdvd4/s1600-h/FLBotanicalHeritageVillage+014.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372450896164129234" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/So7HoCcXidI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/MOYW4Txdvd4/s320/FLBotanicalHeritageVillage+014.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/So7Hwc5gtgI/AAAAAAAAAaA/FWdYuxtG9pc/s1600-h/FLBotanicalHeritageVillage+006.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372451040704640514" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/So7Hwc5gtgI/AAAAAAAAAaA/FWdYuxtG9pc/s320/FLBotanicalHeritageVillage+006.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div></div>Jake enjoying a rest in the shade.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/So7Fa_YuGDI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/kLZUj3Y2dtY/s1600-h/FLBotanicalHeritageVillage+004.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372448472981968946" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/So7Fa_YuGDI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/kLZUj3Y2dtY/s320/FLBotanicalHeritageVillage+004.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><br /><div></div>This guy swam up right as we were passing by.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/So7GRvydaLI/AAAAAAAAAZg/Yisk2Oi_Lnk/s1600-h/FLBotanicalHeritageVillage+025.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372449413687765170" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/So7GRvydaLI/AAAAAAAAAZg/Yisk2Oi_Lnk/s320/FLBotanicalHeritageVillage+025.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/So7G_6iEoyI/AAAAAAAAAZo/mo_we2Pz9FE/s1600-h/FLBotanicalHeritageVillage+024.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372450206845805346" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/So7G_6iEoyI/AAAAAAAAAZo/mo_we2Pz9FE/s320/FLBotanicalHeritageVillage+024.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><br />This one kept posing for us as he dried out his feathers.<br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/So7GRGqB0zI/AAAAAAAAAZY/Z57nLzFYrdQ/s1600-h/FLBotanicalHeritageVillage+019.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372449402646549298" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/So7GRGqB0zI/AAAAAAAAAZY/Z57nLzFYrdQ/s320/FLBotanicalHeritageVillage+019.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div> </div><div>Jake chatting on an old phone in the village.</div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/So7HAXqwScI/AAAAAAAAAZw/zRgWVNBX6zw/s1600-h/FLBotanicalHeritageVillage+034.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372450214666848706" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/So7HAXqwScI/AAAAAAAAAZw/zRgWVNBX6zw/s320/FLBotanicalHeritageVillage+034.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div> </div><div>We got to go into the house in the village, and the little church, and general store. It was fun. I was excited to see the wooden dough bowls in the houses and really, really, really hoped to find one in the gift shop. But they didn't have any. </div><div> </div><div>It was a fun day, even if it was over 100 out. We came back and went for a swim to cool down :) .</div><div> </div></div></div></div></div></div>Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-2944080129333152312009-08-12T19:02:00.000-07:002009-08-12T19:10:15.935-07:00Lake ParkTook a trip to a park called Lake Park in Tampa. It was a HOT day today. On the brochure it mentioned an archery area, so we took our bows just in case there really was a good spot. We just have simple basic bows, but they are alot of fun. <div><br /><br /><div>On the drive down to the archery area a deer ran out in front of us! I got a pick through the windshield and then it bounded off.</div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SoN1oIm8CuI/AAAAAAAAAYo/GbNlRtfLKuQ/s1600-h/Garden081209+003.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369264513121782498" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SoN1oIm8CuI/AAAAAAAAAYo/GbNlRtfLKuQ/s320/Garden081209+003.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div>We got to the archery area and it was so cool. They had targets set up everywhere, and stands for hanging your bow. There were stone circles with numbers on them so you could choose how far away to stand. And there were paths throughout the woods that led to different types of targets. We had a ton of fun!</div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SoN1o55CEUI/AAAAAAAAAYw/R2BbEKQ47hA/s1600-h/Garden081209+007.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369264526351012162" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SoN1o55CEUI/AAAAAAAAAYw/R2BbEKQ47hA/s320/Garden081209+007.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div>After that we drove over to the other part of the park that had the fitness trail. No trees or shade on the gravel trail. There was some scrubby stuff along the sides, but nothing to shade the actual trail. After the first exercise area I suggested we just leave and go swim. That was a winning idea!</div><br /><br /><div></div></div>Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-37603723655207598042009-08-06T18:05:00.001-07:002009-08-06T18:16:39.192-07:00Eureka! ... SpringsFinally, Eureka Springs was back open. This is a little park we found one day and when we got there they were closed for renovations. But today they were back open so we took a trip up there. We also saw the peacock wandering around the streets that we saw last time we drove out that way. And on the way out, we saw the females (pea fowl??) - about 4 of them pecking the ground in someones front yard. <div><div><br /><div>Here's a few pics from Eureka. It is a small park. A few paths - paved and mulch, and a boardwalk. It didn't take us long to go through it, but it was pretty. We were going to stay and eat lunch, but the benches were wet. And with wet areas come mosquitoes. They did have an indoor picnic area, but we couldn't get the fans to turn on and it was a little stifling in there today.</div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Snt_v2PYWKI/AAAAAAAAAXA/tgbwwwsYkbQ/s1600-h/Eureka080609+004.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367023840932681890" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Snt_v2PYWKI/AAAAAAAAAXA/tgbwwwsYkbQ/s320/Eureka080609+004.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Snt_vYvc7DI/AAAAAAAAAW4/ok9sqpkY57A/s1600-h/Eureka080609+002.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367023833014135858" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Snt_vYvc7DI/AAAAAAAAAW4/ok9sqpkY57A/s320/Eureka080609+002.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Snt_wBr8V-I/AAAAAAAAAXI/nbA4vFi9MJE/s1600-h/Eureka080609+008.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367023844005271522" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Snt_wBr8V-I/AAAAAAAAAXI/nbA4vFi9MJE/s320/Eureka080609+008.jpg" border="0" /></a></div></div></div>Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-32191169551666970532009-08-05T09:42:00.000-07:002009-08-05T09:54:04.012-07:00Back from the Beach!We had a wonderful time at the beach. Did we have any adventures? Hmmm, not so much. You know what we did all week? The same thing we do every vacation - and love it! Here's our daily schedule on vacation: <div><br /><div>Eat Breakfast</div><br /><div>Go to the beach and float in the water for a few hours</div><br /><div>Eat lunch (leftovers from dinner the night before)</div><br /><div>Go back to the beach and float in the water for a few hours; head up to the pool for a while afterwards. OR - Hang out just at the pool after lunch.</div><br /><div>Clean up and go out to dinner somewhere yummy and fun.</div><br /><div>Go back to the beach and float in the water for an hour or so.</div><br /><div>Play a few games of train dominoes</div><br /><div>Watch a movie and eat some ice cream.</div><div></div><br /><div>The only thing that changes is where we go to dinner each night LOL. That's how we tell the days apart. For me, that is the perfect relaxing vacation.</div><div></div><br /><div>One fun thing this year is all of the manatees we saw over on the bay side at Jensen's dock. We saw at least 8, maybe more. But we could verify 8 at one time. 2 sets were mama and baby! I've never seen a baby manatee out in the wild, and here I got to see 2!</div><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Snm4E19gB4I/AAAAAAAAAWo/0VUEDuNnJpY/s1600-h/Manatees073109+009.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366522824332674946" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Snm4E19gB4I/AAAAAAAAAWo/0VUEDuNnJpY/s320/Manatees073109+009.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Snm4FH5imkI/AAAAAAAAAWw/ST38cUnm_6M/s1600-h/Manatees073109+022.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366522829147904578" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Snm4FH5imkI/AAAAAAAAAWw/ST38cUnm_6M/s320/Manatees073109+022.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div></div>Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-290779957493800842009-07-21T16:28:00.001-07:002009-07-21T16:34:17.094-07:00Tubing MisAdventureWell our tubing adventure on Saturday was a bit of a disappointment. We drove to Rainbow River State Park to take a 2 hour trip down the river. It was raining when we got there, but we were going to go anyway after making such a long drive. It was 45 minutes just to wait to get ON the river. Oh, and surprise... we don't tell you this on our website but if you bring your own tubes you will shell out EIGHT DOLLARS PER PERSON to ride the tram 2.5 miles to get dropped on the river.<br />UGH!!<br />I was so upset. This was supposed to be an inexpensive adventure for us. Just a few bucks to fill the tubes with air. Now we're up to over $30 in tram fees, park entrance fees, and air fill fees.<br /><br />To top that off the river was not as nice as Ichetucknee. There is housing all along the opposite bank, motorboats and pontoons and fishing boats with motors are allowed. It was not at all the peaceful trip I expected.<br /><br />We made it down the river in about 1.5 hours and of course we were sunburned because the sun decided to come out LOL. I didn't bother lotioning because I thought we'd be going down in the rain so didn't even bring it with. It was a nice day though after that. We did get to see a mama duck with her babies. But no otters. I really wanted to see the otters.<br /><br />So we will NOT go to Rainbow River again. We will drive to Ichetucknee next time. A fee to get in the park, but no hidden tram riding fees. It is worth the drive.<br /><br />I do have a few pictures, but they were taken with the water camera so I'll have to wait until I get that developed.Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-35514012485958398872009-07-15T13:35:00.000-07:002009-07-16T15:10:36.523-07:00Urban AdventureToday we did things a little bit different - and it was fun! We had an urban adventure. I chose a city - Tampa - and we had to take pictures of ourselves at different places throughout the city. Some I wasn't sure if we could get to today, but overall if we hit most of the stops we would get Jake an ice cream cone afterwards. <div align="center"></div><div align="center">So here was the list of places we needed to go to:</div><div align="center">Ybor Museum State Park</div><div align="center">Centro Ybor</div><div align="center">Centennial Park<br />American Victory Museum Ship<br />The Florida Aquarium<br />Channelside - needed to get pics in front of 3 restaurants</div><div align="center">Cruise Ship in background</div><div align="center"></div><div align="center">St. Pete Times Forum</div><div align="center">Harbour Island</div><div align="center">John F. Germany Public Library</div><div align="center">Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center </div><div align="center">Tampa Museum of Arts<br /></div><div><br /></div><div align="left">We bought a streetcar pass for the day and rode the streetcar all over downtown. That was fun! The idea was to then ride the trolley down the part of town that the streetcar doesn't go to. Well I read the trolley hours wrong. It was from 6AM - 9AM, not 9PM. Ooops!! We did alot of walking instead LOL.<br /><br />So, what did we accomplish? Well we only missed Harbour Island (because of the trolley not running at that time) and we couldn't find the Tampa Museum of Arts. That was frustrating. Apparently they are building a new building. The spot on the map where they were supposed to be was a torn down building. There were 2 signs pointing to the Art Museum, yet the Art Museum never materialized. Oh well, we DID stop at 3 other places that weren't on the list so I figure we're covered.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div align="center">Here are the places to which we went!<br /></div><div><br /></div><div align="center">Tampa Port Authority<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358790848025710866" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Sl4_4lov0RI/AAAAAAAAASs/IFE12Sf6hlA/s400/UrbanAdventure071509+002.jpg" border="0" /> The Florida Aquarium<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358791299560313314" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Sl5AS3u_EeI/AAAAAAAAAS8/noE1xiU3wH0/s400/UrbanAdventure071509+004.jpg" border="0" />American Victory Museum Ship<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358791294028476930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Sl5ASjIF8gI/AAAAAAAAAS0/S55Uhk-AeUI/s400/UrbanAdventure071509+003.jpg" border="0" /></div><p align="center">Channelside - 3 Restaurants<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358792987962522722" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Sl5B1JhcPGI/AAAAAAAAATk/u9VPfPVa6Gs/s400/UrbanAdventure071509+006.jpg" border="0" /></p><div align="center"></div><div align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358792382763232978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Sl5BR6-r7tI/AAAAAAAAATU/rb8P9LEWMeU/s400/UrbanAdventure071509+007.jpg" border="0" /></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><div><br /></div><div align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358792387291137762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Sl5BSL2ORuI/AAAAAAAAATc/JbM9YEEBZB0/s400/UrbanAdventure071509+008.jpg" border="0" /></div><div align="center"></div><div><br /></div><div align="center">Centennial Park<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358793784984326690" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Sl5CjiqP0iI/AAAAAAAAAUE/4PqHEBBa26E/s400/UrbanAdventure071509+012.jpg" border="0" /><br />Centro Ybor</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358793429101114162" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Sl5CO05E8zI/AAAAAAAAAT8/FGgNyMuMSx4/s400/UrbanAdventure071509+011.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div></div><div align="center">Ybor Museum State Park<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358793797965885586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Sl5CkTBSsJI/AAAAAAAAAUM/uUMy5ckuHR0/s400/UrbanAdventure071509+013.jpg" border="0" /><br />John F. Germany Public Library<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358796512233856210" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Sl5FCSdNHNI/AAAAAAAAAUk/KpzF9IvaFgs/s400/UrbanAdventure071509+020.jpg" border="0" /> Cruise Ship in Background<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358793425476438450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Sl5COnY4ybI/AAAAAAAAAT0/VIgBMRl_1RE/s400/UrbanAdventure071509+009.jpg" border="0" /><br />Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358796518562392354" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Sl5FCqCC6SI/AAAAAAAAAUs/smqP52T2Q6Q/s400/UrbanAdventure071509+021.jpg" border="0" /> <div align="center"></div><div align="center">Tampa Convention Center<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358796205587380914" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Sl5EwcG_OrI/AAAAAAAAAUc/Bdz1UNAGNEQ/s400/UrbanAdventure071509+016.jpg" border="0" /> </div><div align="center"></div><br /><div align="center">USF Park <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358797773060349170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Sl5GLrZqnPI/AAAAAAAAAU0/_gbGvgmWIEY/s400/UrbanAdventure071509+018.jpg" border="0" /> </div><br /><div align="center"></div><div align="center">St. Pete Times Forum <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358796192831354818" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Sl5Evsltt8I/AAAAAAAAAUU/4GrXvVnY-0c/s400/UrbanAdventure071509+015.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><div align="left">Ok. here is the streetcar map of the area. The red line represents the streetcar system and the blue and green lines represent the trolley system. We hopped on the redline at stop 8 after seeing the Port Authority, Aquarium, the Victory ship, the Cruise ship and 3 restaurants at Channelside. We rode it to stop 2 (centro ybor). We walked to Centennial park and had lunch. I packed two sandwiches and 4 waters for our trip and carried it in my backpack. Stopped at the Ybor Museum. We ran to stop 1 when we saw the trolley there and rode it to stop 9. Took pics at the St. Pete Times Forum and then walked to stop 10. That is where we realized my trolly mistake. The orange arrows indicate where we started walking and found the Convention Center, USF park, Library, then the end is the Performing Arts center. But that isn't the end...because we had to walk back to the start arrow to get back on the streetcar at stop 10. We rode that to stop 6, hopped in the car and headed home!</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358815176242193394" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 311px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Sl5WArTjY_I/AAAAAAAAAU8/le0y7brqpYc/s400/UrbanAdventureMapMarked.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div align="center">It was a fun and different sort of adventure for us today and it was cool to see all of the downtown places that we don't normally see. And yes Jake got his ice cream!</div>Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-90216390864028480342009-07-15T07:40:00.000-07:002009-07-15T07:44:56.982-07:00Beach BumsI just figured since this is our blog of outdoor stuff that we do, I should at least log our beach days! So far we've done pretty well this year, more than last year. I think we've consistently hit the beach every other week.<br />Last week when we went it was raining here, but at the beach there was a little dome of sunshine holding back the storm for us :) . The waves were fun though since a storm was coming and they were big and plentiful. Lots of fun!<br />Each time we have been to the beach it has been gorgeous out and the water perfect! I'm very picky about the water, it must be warm or I just don't get in. Well this year it has been warm every time and we spend about 95% of our time in the water, just getting out to eat lunch.<br />In less than two weeks were off to the beach for a week! Yay!Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-36450448224178924102009-07-15T07:37:00.000-07:002009-07-15T07:40:43.130-07:00Two more cachesJake &amp; I took the dog on a walk last night and found two more caches. We were going for three, but we just couldn't find the third one. I had printed out the satellite view map, but no luck on that one. Oh well, maybe we'll go back with Ted with the gps and have a better chance!<br />So one was hidden in a pretend sprinkler head, that was a fun one! The other one was easily hidden, but the normal passer by just would not notice it. I like those. We've probably walked by it hundreds of times and never seen it.<br />All in all we had a nice walk, about 3 to 4 miles. I wish I'd brought the camera, but that's what I always end up saying!Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-14766559411843931302009-07-05T14:23:00.000-07:002009-07-05T14:36:49.008-07:00Lettuce LakeToday we strolled around the boardwalk at Lettuce Lake Park. I was looking for a nice little walk, but not a hike and this park was perfect. We saw a good amount of wildlife, including one cute little smiley gator laying on a log.<br /><div><div><div><div>Isn't he(she?) cute!</div><div><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SlEahTyuGzI/AAAAAAAAARs/caN7lSPkRnM/s1600-h/LettuceLake070509+005.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355090591471246130" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SlEahTyuGzI/AAAAAAAAARs/caN7lSPkRnM/s400/LettuceLake070509+005.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SlEahpdqa3I/AAAAAAAAAR0/H-_i5pwJ6Z8/s1600-h/LettuceLake070509+002.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355090597288504178" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SlEahpdqa3I/AAAAAAAAAR0/H-_i5pwJ6Z8/s400/LettuceLake070509+002.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div><br />Then we saw a larger version out in the main area of the lake from up on top of the viewing tower.</div><div> </div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SlEbD6G-v_I/AAAAAAAAAR8/yQTzLy3UehI/s1600-h/LettuceLake070509+009.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355091185872322546" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SlEbD6G-v_I/AAAAAAAAAR8/yQTzLy3UehI/s400/LettuceLake070509+009.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>Here's "Patch" - poor little guy got hurt by something and has a patch of fur missing.</div><div> </div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SlEbqvtfiaI/AAAAAAAAASE/I7SijbHeuwU/s1600-h/LettuceLake070509+030.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355091853095963042" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SlEbqvtfiaI/AAAAAAAAASE/I7SijbHeuwU/s400/LettuceLake070509+030.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div> </div><div>We also came across two male lizards having a turf war. </div><div><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SlEcOWizF-I/AAAAAAAAASM/ETitMyOtwPE/s1600-h/LettuceLake070509+015.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355092464815511522" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SlEcOWizF-I/AAAAAAAAASM/ETitMyOtwPE/s400/LettuceLake070509+015.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div> </div><div>This guy won...</div><div><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SlEcO3IXFdI/AAAAAAAAASU/vct59kaNx0k/s1600-h/LettuceLake070509+019.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355092473562994130" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SlEcO3IXFdI/AAAAAAAAASU/vct59kaNx0k/s400/LettuceLake070509+019.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><br /></div><div></div><div><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><br /></div><div></div></div></div></div>Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-23225247030978079822009-06-29T08:05:00.000-07:002009-06-29T08:44:12.142-07:00Jake's Twisty ZipThis was our last zip of the day. Our guide Ashley had Jake twist his harness line around and around so that he would spin on the way down. He had so much fun!<br /><br /><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwpwJbUpHQA2K2Dr9gdd7JYaATWHq3yaO3PxXM5ulCfOjclx76QHWuKSIbZ35mRhMi2afe27fAC4vi5DNEOkw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' FRAMEBORDER='0' />Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-22370401585879783992009-06-28T13:44:00.001-07:002009-06-28T13:51:24.060-07:00<div><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SkfXMKF7TZI/AAAAAAAAARE/EIt5kVo4k64/s1600-h/EcoSafariZipline+012.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352483286020738450" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SkfXMKF7TZI/AAAAAAAAARE/EIt5kVo4k64/s320/EcoSafariZipline+012.jpg" border="0" /></a> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352483513616208450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SkfXZZ86kkI/AAAAAAAAARM/CuRkrANOol8/s320/EcoSafariZipline+018.jpg" border="0" /> Yesterday we had a great time ZipLining. The place we went to had 7 zips so that was fun. After we went up the tower we had 3 zips - 2 across to other platforms and one down to a ramp. Then we walked up another tower and did the last 4 zips, those had some little sky bridge connections which were fun to bounce on as we crossed :) . The weather was pretty nice. Very breezy up on the platforms, lots of cloud cover and a bit of rain. It felt really good zipping in the rain. We were so fortunate that there wasn't any thunder and lightning so we could continue.<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SkfXp4IRXmI/AAAAAAAAARU/suNNK4Apczg/s1600-h/EcoSafariZipline+015.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352483796594810466" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SkfXp4IRXmI/AAAAAAAAARU/suNNK4Apczg/s320/EcoSafariZipline+015.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div></div></div><br /><br /><p></p><br /><br /><p></p></div>Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-76731392131935848782009-06-27T17:23:00.000-07:002009-06-27T18:03:06.314-07:00Ride the ZipLine!Here's a video I took of my last zip as I rode, so you can feel like you are ziplining too! :)<br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div> <iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxR9uybBB1IkElCYc4JVZcyqzsPKdXSmeliFkqA9NK1RKRssBuMgFC5gPt4qqL08PTCLU7TtIKHlDrsIKfzog' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div> </div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Ska472AQYBI/AAAAAAAAAQk/lzuyf3iU-Vs/s1600-h/EcoSafariZipline+013.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352168545424793618" style="WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Ska472AQYBI/AAAAAAAAAQk/lzuyf3iU-Vs/s400/EcoSafariZipline+013.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><br /><p><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Ska47i_kA6I/AAAAAAAAAQc/FpW6y1eAAPc/s1600-h/EcoSafariZipline+010.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352168540321612706" style="WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Ska47i_kA6I/AAAAAAAAAQc/FpW6y1eAAPc/s400/EcoSafariZipline+010.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Ska5lhatgVI/AAAAAAAAAQs/bIUAhz6MgCE/s1600-h/EcoSafariZipline+024.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352169261453115730" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Ska5lhatgVI/AAAAAAAAAQs/bIUAhz6MgCE/s400/EcoSafariZipline+024.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Ska47i_kA6I/AAAAAAAAAQc/FpW6y1eAAPc/s1600-h/EcoSafariZipline+010.jpg"></a>Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-59152493951137679022009-06-27T16:17:00.000-07:002009-06-27T16:50:56.523-07:00Ziplining Today!Ok, I'm worn out!! So I'm just going to post some video and some pics, and will fill in the details later.<br /><div></div><div><br /><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyIOvQyu8wpGhGjkEBM-7ONWQLzPst25af991cdPt6u4_em0h2Qis5mVOSbBxolpFAeiagNTSqSP76nxjsERg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Skatt0jeBJI/AAAAAAAAAQM/l9BPvjPE2og/s1600-h/EcoSafariZipline+007.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352156209889543314" style="WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Skatt0jeBJI/AAAAAAAAAQM/l9BPvjPE2og/s400/EcoSafariZipline+007.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><br /><div></div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SkawSXjnT7I/AAAAAAAAAQU/06v8aemVPjc/s1600-h/EcoSafariZipline+008.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352159036783939506" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SkawSXjnT7I/AAAAAAAAAQU/06v8aemVPjc/s400/EcoSafariZipline+008.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><br /><p></p>Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-4330193542177416352009-06-22T15:11:00.000-07:002009-06-30T11:07:38.635-07:00Hitting the parks circuit for summer<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SkpUXvga7JI/AAAAAAAAARk/atoLkksrOBo/s1600-h/0622091426.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353183873949428882" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SkpUXvga7JI/AAAAAAAAARk/atoLkksrOBo/s400/0622091426.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Our plan is to go to a different park each week this summer. We'll see some new ones and visit some favorites :) .<br /><br />The first week of June we tried to go to a botanical park called Eureka Springs, but they were closed for repairs! They didn't have anything about it on their site so that was annoying to make a drive out for nothing. We ended up at a park called Veteran's Memorial park that we saw on the way. It wasn't really a hiking park, but we had lunch at the picnic tables and walked around looking at the old war vehicles, missles, helicopters, and memorial sites.</div><br /><br /><div>The second week we went to a hiking trail called Alafia Scrub. We went right passed it because the entrance just blends into the rest of the woods on the side of the road. We had to park right out on the side of the road because there is no parking (??). I called the parks service to confirm and yep, just park on the grass after driving over the sidewalk (check for people walking first). :) It was a nice little hike. We had lunch overlooking the river on a little lookout spot. </div><br /><br /><div>Last week we didn't make it to a park. We just got lazy. Although we did get to the beach (LOVE the beach). So this week we have to hit two parks to average out 1 per week for the summer. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div>Today we went to Homosassa Springs park. That was really fun. I actually have some pics from there. We saw manatees, alligators, panthers &amp; bobcats, tons of birds and a hippopotamus. That was a cute story because the park used to be privately owned, then the state took it over. When they did they decided to make it a Florida animals only park. They were going to get rid of the hippo, but all of the kids in the area petitioned to keep him, and the governer (Chiles at that time) made him an honorary Floridian, so they kept him. The best part was...the otters! I could watch them all day. </div><br /><div><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SkAFzMpLN2I/AAAAAAAAAPs/Lo01GdHLS6g/s1600-h/HomosassaSprings062209+030.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350282734441543522" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SkAFzMpLN2I/AAAAAAAAAPs/Lo01GdHLS6g/s400/HomosassaSprings062209+030.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Barred Owl</div><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SkAGDcYiwFI/AAAAAAAAAP0/o6Y_0WSGnTU/s1600-h/HomosassaSprings062209+050.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350283013544656978" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SkAGDcYiwFI/AAAAAAAAAP0/o6Y_0WSGnTU/s400/HomosassaSprings062209+050.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div>Alligator<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SkAFj5F1clI/AAAAAAAAAPk/xTXN8bq4eX0/s1600-h/HomosassaSprings062209+022.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350282471495004754" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SkAFj5F1clI/AAAAAAAAAPk/xTXN8bq4eX0/s400/HomosassaSprings062209+022.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Manatee eating a carrot</div><br /><div></div><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SkAFPE-SxhI/AAAAAAAAAPc/GPNt7s9D7hg/s1600-h/HomosassaSprings062209+010.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350282113907344914" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SkAFPE-SxhI/AAAAAAAAAPc/GPNt7s9D7hg/s400/HomosassaSprings062209+010.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div><br />The Hippo<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SkAGo7chf6I/AAAAAAAAAP8/ZrJhVKyNEBc/s1600-h/HomosassaSprings062209+018.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350283657538011042" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SkAGo7chf6I/AAAAAAAAAP8/ZrJhVKyNEBc/s400/HomosassaSprings062209+018.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><div>Then this Saturday to get to our second park we are going ziplining at a park. I'm so excited! I'll post about it later this weekend and hopefully have some pics.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div>Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-75788404576186956832009-06-01T08:12:00.000-07:002009-06-30T10:38:57.502-07:00Long Trek, 1 Cache, Learning!<div>Our first trek with the GPS, and boy are we learning some things. I for one, seem to like using the satellite map view and cannot figure out the GPS, good thing that's Ted's dept! LOL. We went on a huge multi-cache hike. I think there are like 17 or 19 caches.<br />Well we literally followed the GPS line. Whether there was a path or not we pushed through straight toward our goal. At one point we had to cross a river and there was a fallen log on a small offshoot for us to take. But we brought the dog and she couldn't get past a spot where there was a big chuck of tree limb blocking the way. So I had to carry her across the log! :) We broke through to find a path! LOL. We could have just followed this trail (that we didn't know about) the whole way. When we finally found the cache our GPS was off by 50 feet! How are we supposed to find these things with an error of 50ft in any direction? Good grief. </div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SkpNp6mPeMI/AAAAAAAAARc/IrTscQU6LiY/s1600-h/0523091320.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353176489582885058" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/SkpNp6mPeMI/AAAAAAAAARc/IrTscQU6LiY/s400/0523091320.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><br /><div>We took off for the next one after finding the coordinates inisde the first cache. Down the path, but now the path is veering the wrong way. We must have to go straight again right? And, the GPS is being a huge pain because it doesn't want to orient to the way we are going, it only wants to show the view from North. It was horrible.<br />So off we trek through the woods some more. The dog, who NEVER leaves our sight in all of the years we have had her wandered off three times so we had to leash her. Ever try to break through vines and scrub and brush and climb over palmetto and logs with a dog on a leash? Ugh, she's not coming along next time. This way and that way, through WAY too many spider webs, we wandered and wandered trying to follow our little purple line. At one point a banana spider began lowering itself from the side of my hat. Apparently it was taking a ride! *shudder*.<br />I'm glad we all wore our camel paks because it was hot and a long hike. The GPS kept saying we were getting closer, but I didn't believe it. After two hours we saw a hill. Now, where we live in FL hills are few and far between. I just kept thinking, PLEASE let that path be at the top of the hill. Or a road, or some sort of civilization...a landmark, SOMETHING besides vines and spiders and palmettos. Our legs and arms were bloody from the thorny vines, and we raced up the hill to find a path. I dropped to my knees and kissed the ground, literally. I was so happy to see it. We followed the GPS down the path to the next point, but didn't see anything. We checked every little tree and bush, nothing. And after all, if it was 50ft off the first time, how would we possibly know where to look? We tried all of the places that would be good for a cache, and even the places that wouldn't. But we really weren't sure how far off the unit was.<br />So after 4 hours we made it back to the car. We had found ONE little cache out of 17/19. We almost lost the dog. We were bloody and dirty. I'm sure we'll go back again soon! LOL. We did see a wild pig, 2 armadillo (one that wanted to follow us, very cute!), a gazillion spiders, a turtle (or tortoise?) and a beagle :) .</div>Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-75740549316417673222009-05-18T08:09:00.001-07:002009-05-18T08:12:05.157-07:00Hard Working Ted Earns His GPS!Well Ted put in a whopping 30 hours of overtime this weekend and so we decided that he could spend some of it on a GPS. Whoohoo! Can't wait to use it for caching. This weekend we are doing a multicache hunt that spans about 7-8 miles of hiking. I think there are 19 caches involved. I'm so excited!!!!<br />I hope it isn't raining. I've been loving the rain this past week since we were in a drought and needed it. But I want it nice, cool, overcast but not raining. LOL, right. Fat chance of it being cool in FL in May!!Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-9199820144215387902009-05-18T08:07:00.000-07:002009-05-18T08:09:29.851-07:00More FailuresOh well. We can't find them all with just our satellite photos! We tried a few near some ponds nearby. We came up empty handed on all three. We did bring bread to feed the ducks. And a momma duck brought her babies! Oh they were so cute :) . At that one I had the photo of the area wrong in my head and we were searching on the wrong side. Forgot to print it out.<br />The other two were very close to each other but by the time we got there dark was falling and we couldn't see well. We timed that one bad.<br />It was still fun to look!Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-61564963299118492872009-05-18T07:53:00.000-07:002009-05-18T08:07:29.622-07:00Spring Break Cache Day!<div><div><div>Jake and I went out hunting for 9 caches this day. What fun!<br /><br /><div>The first two stops were in the neighborhood closeby. One street was SO busy. When the people finally went indoors and the cars stopped coming by, the mail lady came! Now we had to wait for her to finish the street LOL. I don't have a pic of that one because the people weren't home for me to ask. The next one was on a mailbox. Jake spied that one.</div><br /><div></div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/ShF3XMJihoI/AAAAAAAAANA/AOxMs6e8Ivg/s1600-h/geocacheandgarden+008.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337178273692681858" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/ShF3XMJihoI/AAAAAAAAANA/AOxMs6e8Ivg/s320/geocacheandgarden+008.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div></div><div>After that we went to a nearby church. This one was tough because it was just down a trail. We thought it was at the cross because of the hint, but not anywhere near it. But we found it!</div><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/ShF3uKiTMuI/AAAAAAAAANI/LBV2fwEcy6o/s1600-h/geocacheandgarden+006.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337178668396655330" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/ShF3uKiTMuI/AAAAAAAAANI/LBV2fwEcy6o/s320/geocacheandgarden+006.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><br /><div></div><div>Next was the library. A nice shiny little capsule hanging off that post. The satellite pics showed it way back in the woods so we tromped around there before deciding that the satellite was probably way off and let's just check that post on the way out....</div><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/ShF4JxpzDDI/AAAAAAAAANQ/7kAV5k3HheM/s1600-h/geocacheandgarden+007.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337179142753553458" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/ShF4JxpzDDI/AAAAAAAAANQ/7kAV5k3HheM/s320/geocacheandgarden+007.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><br /><div></div><div>On to the cemetery. This one was cool. It was hanging upside down inside the top cap of the fence corner post. Very good one! Had to take the pic from the car so it isn't very clear. But you can see the corner post back in the trees and palmettos. Pull that top cap off and inside is dangling a 35mm film canister. The graves are old too, was neat to see some history.</div><br /><div></div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/ShF4ksfTmwI/AAAAAAAAANY/CVYXe9OLbD8/s1600-h/geocacheandgarden+005.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337179605223840514" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/ShF4ksfTmwI/AAAAAAAAANY/CVYXe9OLbD8/s320/geocacheandgarden+005.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div> </div><div>Those were our successes for the day. We had four failures that day, but that is okay. The first two were both at Target. Well guess what... the satellite photo of that area is a big area of TREES because there was no Target there at that time. It is new. So it was a bit hard. I tried to load up GPS on my phone for that day. But it wasn't quite accurate. So those 2 were no-go's. We spent at least 45 minutes just trying to figure them out even without a good photo.</div><div>The third one was very similar. It was at a StarBucks. But again... the satellite photos were Pre-Starbucks so it was another field and trees pic.</div><div>The fourth one was behind a WalMart. And even though it was mid afternoon I just didn't have a good feeling about traipsing around behind a shopping strip mall. It felt very unsafe so we'll have to go back with Ted.</div><div> </div><div>We did great that day! All in all - good stuff!</div></div></div></div>Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-65222436558998727392009-05-18T07:46:00.000-07:002009-05-18T07:53:52.440-07:00Bok Tower Sanctuary<div>This is one of our favorite places to go visit. It is so beautiful! Well imagine my surprise when I learned there were 2 geocaches there on the scrub trail! We went during Spring Break. I had 2 satellite pics, but it was all trees and scrub land. I wasn't sure if we'd find the one. The 2nd one had some clues, but the first was just out there somewhere. Well we found it! I was very excited because it was one of the first ones we found that didn't really have landmarks closeby.</div><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/ShF2FIC3w1I/AAAAAAAAAMw/M4Eih4LJEYY/s1600-h/bokapril09+014.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337176863841698642" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/ShF2FIC3w1I/AAAAAAAAAMw/M4Eih4LJEYY/s320/bokapril09+014.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>Cache is right back in the shadows. Another ammo can.<br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/ShF2QeIr1WI/AAAAAAAAAM4/lwBVKdrpsJE/s1600-h/bokapril09+016.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337177058750223714" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/ShF2QeIr1WI/AAAAAAAAAM4/lwBVKdrpsJE/s320/bokapril09+016.jpg" border="0" /></a></div>Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-49826995088147540592009-05-18T07:38:00.000-07:002009-05-18T07:44:24.918-07:00Late Night ErrandsOur goals - WalMart &amp; Home Depot. <br />First up - WalMart. This one is tough because no matter what time of day you go, WalMart is busy. It was about 9:30PM. We pulled into the lot and from the satellite pic it looked like it would be near a light post. We parked right near the one we thought it would be. Then we sat down on the cement divider and tried to look like we were just chatting and waiting for someone. Jake found this one and it was good. It was a flat refrigerator type magnet (you know, the kind you might get from a pizza place to stick on the fridge) and one side had the signing log on it. It was underneath the bottom of a small transmitter?? Transformer?? whatever it is called at the base of the lightpost. So thin that you couldn't really see it. And even when I felt for it I passed over it the first time. But Jake caught sight of it. Go Jake!<br /><br />Next stop - Home Depot. While it definitely wasn't busy, since it was closed. It was a little harder because here we were in the dark in the parking lot with flashlights. Hmmm... This one was great! (pun intended). It was hanging off the chain on the sewer grate. A small 35mm film container cable tied to the chain. Jake found this one too!!Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-51717549963661180002009-05-18T07:33:00.000-07:002009-05-18T07:38:21.035-07:00Fire Towers & Produce StandsAnother after school cache hunt!<br />First stop was in the woods near a produce stand. I know we're supposed to do more urban ones, but I figured we could find this one. It was in a large stump. The bark actually was just pressed against the stump and it was hidden between bark and wood. But we found it! Fun. :)<br />Next stop was a stand of trees near a firetower. Ok, so there was this guy in a truck parked out in the field under those trees! The day before we sat for over 30 minutes at Cracker Barrel waiting. Now today we have some guy parked in a field under trees for some shade! What is he doing there? We thought he might have been caching, but he wasn't. There was a bus stop close by and we figured he must have been waiting for someone to come home on the bus and wanted to park in the shade. But when was the bus coming by? I don't know the bus schedules. How long would we have to wait? <br />We decided to give it until 4pm, which was again about 30 more minutes. We put an Adventures in Odyssey into the CD player and just listened to some stories while we waiting. Sure enough he pulled out about 4pm and we ran over and found the cache in about 10 seconds.<br />No pics yet, but I'll swing back by and get some soon!Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1364626804279411797.post-78303951936718923462009-05-16T13:38:00.000-07:002009-05-16T13:45:17.746-07:00Cracker Barrel Cache<div>After school I took Jake out for a hunt. The one we were after that day was at Cracker Barrel. The title hinted at being on the front porch. Well wouldn't you know there was this guy and his little boy just hanging around on the front porch! We went inside, bought some drinks and snacks and sat out on the rocking chairs. At various times Jake and I would wander along the porch pretending to just look at the things they had out there, but really scanning for our cache. After 30 minutes he was still there and I told Jake - he must be waiting for his wife to get off work, her shift will probably end at 4. At 4:05 out came a woman and they drove off. Yeah, now the area is ours!</div><br /><div>We started poking around all of the items. One place that I kept coming back to was this huge black iron...something. I don't know what it was, some sort of... I can't even explain. Here's a pic! I know, it is a terrible pic. When we went back to take a picture there were people all over there. </div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Sg8lzjcCY8I/AAAAAAAAAMg/XZB-Bd1ncGE/s1600-h/cache2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336525651073721282" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mUN5PaHaEuA/Sg8lzjcCY8I/AAAAAAAAAMg/XZB-Bd1ncGE/s320/cache2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div><br /><div>Where I found it was insde, down toward the bottom and held by a magnet inside against the front portion. Getting it back was fun too, LOL.</div><br /><div></div>Crystabelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00595697774152696354noreply@blogger.com0